Field
The present disclosure is generally related to audio processing and user interfaces.
Background
Advances in technology have resulted in fitness bands or activity trackers that are becoming used by more consumers to track their physical activities (e.g., the fitbit device or wearable watches). These fitness and activity trackers are typically worn, and include sensors to measure a person's heart beat or measure movement and are coupled to transceivers within the wearable device. In many cases the wearable devices wirelessly transmit fitness or activities (e.g., steps, calories burned, or amount of time standing) to a smart phone or other mobile device through Bluetooth wireless communication.
In the last few years, the term “hearables” has been used to describe the use of a wearable device and a headphone. Hearables also include loudspeakers to play sound, and microphones to capture voice commands or talk on the phone. Hearables may include sensors to track heart rate, temperature, oxygen saturation, or cadence. In addition, a hearable may include a Bluetooth integrated circuit to communicate with a smart phone or mobile device. Some hearables are capable of Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity that allow users to make phone calls without wireless pairing to a phone. Advances in speech recognition have also been increasing with advances in machine learning, and is an additional technology that may be included in a hearable.
As technology in hearables continues to advance new challenges and opportunity may arise.